As the complexity of electronic devices increases, the number of user selectable operating modes of the devices correspondingly increases. For miniature electronic devices such as portable paging receivers, providing a convenient method for rapid selection of most desired operating modes becomes difficult. This is due in part to the miniature size of the device.
For example, common prior art pagers had only a few operating modes such as "read", "protect", and "delete". Presenting a predetermined sequence of menu items for selection of these few modes proved trivial. However, with the advent of improved microcomputers with increased memory for use in these devices, the number of possible operating modes has increased to a dozen or more. The modes may now include: "read", "protect", "set alert volume", "erase", "off", "set alarm", "set alert melody", "auto/manual power", "set auto power time", "set time of day", "set read mode", and "chronograph". However, mode selection tools typically available to PCs users, such as a large graphic monitor, a full alpha key board and a mouse, are not available to users of such miniature electronic devices. Thus, the methods used on a PC to select operating modes may not readily adapt to miniature devices. Due to the miniature nature of the device the size of the display and the number and type of user controls are limited. For example, a typical display may be less than two square inches or twelve and a half square centimeters and the device may have only a few switches and no mouse. On such a miniature device, menu items allowing the user to select a desired mode are presented in a predetermined sequence. The user then navigates sequentially through the sequence of menu items to select the desired operating mode.
A problem arises when one user desires a certain set of operating modes which are different from those of another user. Attempting to solve this problem with a predetermined sequence of menu items cannot not satisfy all users of the devices. For example, a first user may frequently use the device's chronograph mode for timing sporting events, and thus would prefer to have the menu item corresponding to the chronograph mode occur early in the sequence of menu items. On the other hand, another user with many appointments may prefer to use the device's alarm modes while having little or no use for the device's chronograph functions. This user would prefer to have menu items corresponding to the device's alarm functions occur early in the sequence of menu items while having the chronograph menu item occur last in the sequence of menu items. Consequently, it is not possible to design a predetermined sequence of menu items capable of satisfying both users.
Thus, what is needed is a method for adjusting the sequence of menu items on an electronic device to correspond to the way the user uses the device.